Public School Education | Teen Ink

Public School Education

January 20, 2011
By Trey Wheeler BRONZE, Newcastle, Washington
Trey Wheeler BRONZE, Newcastle, Washington
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Public education in the United States has become one of the largest and most dynamic quality control problems in our modern society. Despite our access to the technological advances of our time, we have been unable to maintain our preeminent status among the world’s most educated societies. The Department of Education published data demonstrating that our rank has dropped from the leader in the educational field to the unthinkable rank of 19th in the world today (1). I would dissolve the present management system of decentralized and many times disconnected educational standards and implement a superior system which vertically integrates curriculum selection equivalent to the highest international level with teacher efficiency measurements and rewards to resurrect the United States public school education programs.

Our government's departments of education could implement and regulate the quality of public education throughout the United States. Our current methodology allows individual states to implement standards, select curriculum programs and set qualification minimums for their teachers. The result is that few if any of the states concur on the best academic solution for their students. Currently, a universally defined program of curriculum and instructor effectiveness measurement that is homogenously implemented by all states does not exist. Beyond the philosophical differences that state leaders may have, the three main issues which seem to be the most obvious hurdles are the unequal budgets, unequal certification standards for teachers, and a dearth of institutions within the states to train teachers to harness modern technology sufficiently and specifically.

A possible solution to these issues would be to create a national program that not only standardizes curriculum programmatically but also regulates teachers unions and teacher's groups to achieve the same standards and requirements of teaching acumen and curricula throughout the public school systems all over the United States. Establishing and implementing a pay scale for all teachers based on data that includes personal educational achievements, performance of their students on standardized tests, the difficulty of the curriculum that they are teaching as well as length of service as a teacher is the best resolution of teacher pay disputes. From this scale, which would have regionally measured cost of living benchmarks, teachers will be paid a set amount uniformly all over the United States.

This solution would assist the boards of education of states in which the teachers have unionized and often wield their power detrimentally. Teachers need to have a uniform set of performance standards, uniform protocol and sequencing for implementing the curriculum, and a uniform menu of world class curriculum to follow. This renovated approach would ensure that the public education in the United States is in fact meeting higher standards and is equitably administered, regardless of the state in which one lives.

If these new regulations were enforced, the system would eliminate much frustration and disharmony amongst teachers, reduce or negate teacher strikes which can be detrimental to the learning process of the students. Furthermore, taxes and fees originating from the nation’s tax base would be both indisputably disseminated by following the measurement matrix mechanism and consistently available on an annual basis.


With these types of regulations and changes, it would ensure that students living in financially poor states would have the same opportunity to world class education as the students in a financially stable state. This system would raise the standards of public education, level the playing field for all students and allow them all an equal opportunity to succeed on a globally competitive scale.

(1)-US Department of education

The author's comments:
This essay was written for my college entrance application for the University of Chicago. It entails details regarding the flaws and solutions regarding public school education in our country.

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